Covert Hunter
by zathura
Summary: Principal Tyrell decides to send a hunter to infiltrate the Lab and investigate the strange events occurring on Gal Da Val island. Please R
1. Default Chapter

CHAPTER ONE  
  
Our story begins on Pioneer 2, shortly after the legendary defeat of Dark Falz. The island of Gal Da Val has recently been rumored to contain remnants of secret experiments conducted by the scientists of Pioneer 1, as well as evident links to the man known as Flowen. The current Principal of Pioneer 2, Tyrell, has contemplated sending hunters to Gal Da Val island to confirm the rumors, but all attempts at such acts have been thwarted by the Lab. We shall begin with the Principal's plan to overcome the Lab's influence, and send a hunter to the island for investigation. The hunter in question is Zathura. A seasoned bounty hunter and mercenary, with a forgotten past. No one seems to know exactly how old he is, or where he comes from. The only undeniable fact is that he was transferred to Pioneer 2 shortly before it left planet Coral.  
  
" Pinggg" The telltale sign of electronic mail rings in Zathura's ears as he sits down to his first cooked meal in nearly two weeks. He reluctantly reaches over and activates the video on his armband. "Tyrell, I should've known, what do you want so badly that you had to interrupt my meal?" " Hmm...nice to see you too. I have a mission for you Zathura, but we should not discuss it over monitored channels. Come to my office as soon as you can." Zathura slowly finishes his meal, trying his best to savor it's taste, as he knows it will be a long time before he has time to make another. A short time later he don's his armor and takes his double cannon from his weapon rack. He decides to grab his Varista for good measure, and heads out the door towards the Principal's office.  
  
Zathura walks in the Principal's office slightly taken aback by the simplicity of it all. He had previously received all of his missions at the Hunter's Guild or via his electronic communicator on his armband. The office was bare of anything that would make it unique, only computers and holographic view screens adorned it. "hmph" he thought to himself. "Probably reflects his personality." Tyrell took the initiative, and explained why he had called Zathura. " I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to come here instead of talking to you over the communication channels. Have you heard of Gal Da Val island?" "Well, I've heard rumors, I'm not sure if I'm inclined to believe them though. Does this have something to do with the island?" " Well,...I want you to go to Gal Da Val island and investigate it for me." " What!? You can't be serious, no one's allowed down there anymore. Only hunters associated with the Lab have access to Gal Da Val." " Exactly. We need to know what's down there. If the rumors are true, then the Lab has a very good reason for restricting access. I need these rumors either confirmed,...or disproved. I need you to associate yourself with the lab in order to get their permission to go to the surface. I've already contacted Dr. Montague, and he agreed that you would be an excellent addition to their hunting team. However, I did not inform him of your obligation to me." " I see, you've done your homework Tyrell. It's true Dr. Montague owed me a favor, but adding me to the Lab staff? That's going a bit far,...even for you Tyrell." " Maybe so Zathura, nonetheless,...you are the one most fitted for this operation, and I promise I will make it worth your while if you do this for me." Zathura contemplated this for a moment. Principal Tyrell had never asked anything with such serious consequences before. However, going to Gal Da Val island,...seeing it with his own eyes. After all, Tyrell wasn't the only one who wanted to see if the rumors were true. After a few minutes, Zathura agreed. Tyrell gave him a small communicator with a private channel, and installed a small camera into the shoulder of Zathura's armor. " Very well, within the week your belongings will be moved to a location of the Lab's choosing. I will contact Dr. Montague, and you will start your debriefing at the Lab tomorrow. Zathura,...I trust you to see this through." " Understood Principal Tyrell." 


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2  
  
" You must be the new hunter. " Zathura finds himself surrounded by a virtual plethora of technology. He had never before seen so many computers, monitors, and equipment crammed into one room. " I understand you performed some odd jobs for our own Dr. Montague some time ago, correct? " " Umm...yes, I did accompany him on several missions. " " Well, as you can see, we reward those who perform well. A recommendation from one as esteemed as Dr. Montague doesn't hurt either." the woman said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. It was obvious to Zathura that she wasn't particularly fond of him, but clearly could not refuse a direct request from Dr. Montague. " This will be your mission director, Elly Person. She will give you vital information regarding the terrain and enemies around you, as well as the location of your mission objectives. " Zathura gave a quick nod in Elly's direction, she did the same. To be quite frank, Zathura recognized Elly from a previous quest. Apparently, she recognized him as well. The lab's director didn't seem to mind,...too much. She shot them both quick glances however that snapped their attention back to her. " Since you are such highly thought of by Dr. Montague, I think it best to forego the usual training we give to new recruits. However, since I want to test your skills in some way before you actually go to the planets surface, I think this will be a perfect opportunity for us to train one of our,...(green) hunters. " Zathura winced slightly at the term, green. He knew exactly what that meant. He would be stuck training a novice. A green hunter with little to no combat training. Zathura started wondering what he had done that would merit sticking him with training a noob. Suddenly the Chief spoke and snapped Zathura back to reality. " We have set up a meeting place so you can meet your new partner. " The Chief hands him a slip of paper with the address. What she had said just then hit him. " Wait, did you say partner? I thought I would be able to do these missions solo. " " As I said, it's the perfect opportunity for our new recruit to get some combat experience and learn how to fight alongside such an established hunter as yourself. "  
  
As Zathura made his way towards the address given to him, all he could think about was if this was going to interfere with his original mission. He needed to find out if this new hunter would pose a threat. As he walked into the cafe, he quickly checked the data disk that was given to him, which included a picture and brief description of his partner to be. A RAcaseal, interesting. He hadn't worked alongside a RAcaseal since his missions with Eleanor and Dr. Montague. As soon as Zathura walked in he quickly spotted his appointed pupil. She apparently didn't even notice him. " Wow." he thought. " She really is green. I could probably walk up behind her with a gun pointed at her head and she'd never know it. " He walked over to her table and sat down. She looked slightly surprised, and then realized who this must be. " Oh, forgive me,....you must be Zathura, my new partner. My name is Iria, it's nice to meet you. " Zathura shook her hand and introduced himself as the aforementioned. He proceded to ask her if she had any combat experience outside of the VR simulator. After this conversation he was even more convinced that she was a liability. It turned out she had only been in service for a few months, and had just recently acquired her hunter's license. They talked for a bit, and were having a nice conversation, when the Chief beeped Zathura and told him that their simulation would begin first thing in the morning, and that the Lab would send a hover car for them. They wound down their conversation and departed for their homes. The next morning at the lab the Chief gave them their mission details. It would take place in the VR simulator, to prevent accidental death. " Your goal today is to reach the boss of the VR temple area, with both team members alive and well. "  
  
At the beginning of the temple, Zathura first summoned his faithful mag Rati. Iria was somewhat surprised, she knew he was strong, but to have a mag in it's ultimate form? He then unhooked his double-cannon from his waist, activated it, and swung it around a bit to get the feel for it. While Iria Readied her Guilty Light. Zathura thought that perhaps it was a good thing she was an android, since the gun was bigger than her, and probably weighed about the same. " Well, perhaps the extra firepower will make up for her lack of experience. " he thought to himself. " You ready?" he asked Iria. Iria simply nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on the door before them. Zathura activated the mechanism and the door slid open. As soon as they stepped through the fighting began. Four dimenians materialized, along with two poison lily's and two grass assassins. Zathura led the assault with his double cannon, eviscerating one of the dimenians, while the other circled around for a backstab. Zathura was about to turn and take it down, when he saw a blue flash of light and heard the sizzling of boiling air. He turned to see the dimenian had a hole the size of a basketball in its chest, and saw Iria by the door shaking,....the barrel of her guilty light still smoking. Zathura smiled to himself, then his face became stern again as he realized that the battle was only beginning. He charged the third dimenian which was conveniantly standing right in front of a poison lily. This served two purposes, the dimenian's body blocked any clear shot the lily would have at Zathura, and they were close enough together he could take them both in a single combo. He stepped up to the dimenian which was already swinging down his blade arm for a head-shot. Zathura blocked with one end of his double cannon, and with the other he brought the dimenian down with an upward slash, spilling purple blood and what passed for dimenian innards. As soon as the dimenian fell, with his blade still high in the air, he took a step forward and brought the high end down in a diagonal strike at the lily. At first it seemed as though he had missed, but a moment later blood gushed from a seemingly invisible wound in the lily's stalk, and the lily fell into a puddle of it own green blood.  
  
Iria had already taken care of the fourth dimenian and the lily it guarded. Now she was working on the grass assassin. " She's doing quite well actually. Maybe she's not as useless as I had first thought. " As this thought ran through Zathura's mind, he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. The grass assassin on his side of the arena had begun to charge him, the grass assassin's most powerful attack. Fortunately there was quite a bit of distance between them, which gave Zathura enough time to react. He waited till' the giant insect was almost on top of him, then kicked off the ground in a powerful frontflip, letting the grass assassin run underneath him. Zathura landed on the insect's back and jammed his double cannon into it's skull. Blood dribbled from the assassin's mouth, and it made a sickening gurgle as it collapsed on the ground. Zathura looked up in time to see Iria get back-handed by her grass assasssin. Just as it was about to deal the finishing blow to Iria, Zathura summoned a foie spell and hurled it at the grass assassin. Direct hit! The assassin's head exploded in a mix of bone and burning flesh. As the debri fell to the ground, Zathura made his way to where Iria was still sitting on the ground. He helped her up off the ground, he could tell she was obviously shaken. " Well, the first room is cleared,...we can wait for a bit if you need to recover, but remember, you're the one that signed up for this. You knew the dangers involved with being a Hunter. If you get hurt, it's no one's fault but your own. " Iria simply nodded at this remark. Zathura then felt maybe he had been a bit harsh, but decided against taking it back, after all, he was only telling the truth. Right? He decided not to dwell on it, and they moved on through the simulation in simialiar fashion. Zathura taking out the more dangerous enemies while Iria stood back and vaporized enemies with her guilty light. Zathura noticed that she was getting a little better handling combat. As far as he could see, the simulation was exactly like real life, except that you couldn't die. That however, was a mute point since the threat of mutilation and loss of limbs kept it as real as he cared to see.  
  
Zathura and Iria finally exited the last room, covered in blood and panting for breath. Well, Zathura was anyway, it was clear that if Iria had lungs she would be pumping them pretty hard right then. As it was however, the only sign of her fatigue was the louder than usual whine of her servo motors as she moved. Then Iria perked up a little, pointed and said, " Hey Zath, isn't that the boss teleporter? " Zathura looked up with a quizzical look on his face. " Zath? Is that what you just called me? " " Oh, yeah...sorry, should I not call you that? " " Actually, I don't mind at all. It's just been awhile since anyone called me anything other than Zathura. Well, come on....let's finish this. " Iria smiled and trotted off to the transporter. Zathura was close behind. They entered the teleporter and activated the mechanism that triggered the transmission. Suddenly, their vision reddened, and slowly came back into focus which left them on a raft moving swiftly along a small river. Rati, sensing danger, cast Shifta and Deband on the two party members. They both felt strong surges of power course through their bodies. They would need it, especially after the exhausting gauntlet that the temple had proved to be. Suddenly, the hunter's radars picked up a huge object moving under the water. " Get Ready, Here it comes!" Zathura yelled. Iria tensed up and tightened her grip on her guilty light, ready for whatever awaited them. After an uncomfortable silence, a huge beast thrust itself through the water and onto the raft, Immediately trying to crush our hero's with it's bone-like tentacles. Fortunately for Iria, it was more focused on Zathura as he was already hacking his way through the beast's tough exoskeleton. Iria resorted to blasting it with her gun. After a minute or so, the exoskeleton over it's true face cracked, giving the hunters the advantage they needed. Zathura motioned for Iria to shoot it directly between the eyes, where the cracks were the most severe. The bone shattered and fell off, exposing the soft tissue that barely protected the creatures sensitive nervous system. Iria took this to her advantage and shot the creature twice, stunning it. While at the same time Zathura lifted his double cannon high above his head, and brought it down, impaling the creatures brain. The giant beast screamed and thrashed for a bit, and then was silent and unmoving. Zathura gave his cannon a quick twist to make sure the creature wasn't faking, then withdrew it completely, softly sighing to himself.  
  
It was then that the beast's body vanished and the computer announced that the simulation was complete. Iria ran to Zathura and hugged him, she felt lucky to be alive, and knew that she wouldn't be if it weren't for him. Then her face became solemn, and she asked, " Are all the creatures on Ragol this vicious? " " I'm afraid so,....but don't worry, we're partners...and as long as I have a breath in me I'll protect you." was the response. Zathura could hardly believe he had said that. Just less than two hours ago he detested working with the android, but now he actually looked forward to their next mission. Why? How had his feelings changed so quickly, and more importantly,...without him noticing. He decided he'd think about it later, after all,...they had an important mission tomorrow. He had to get ready. With this in mind, they stepped through the teleporter back to the Lab. 


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3  
  
The next day Zathura stayed at home. All missions had been cancelled due to unfavorable weather. He was glad, he wanted to get his thoughts together about the previous day. What he said at the end of the simulation still bothered him. As he walked over to the cabinet, he stopped to look in the mirror. It had been about 4 months since he'd actually looked at himself, other than to shave the stubble that appeared every so often. He stood about 5'11", not exactly tall, but not someone a lot of people could look down on. He usually wore his long hair in a ponytail, but today it was unwashed and sticking out a bit. He decided it was time to break the funk and wash up. He forego the drink in favor of a professionally mixed one, and after he had showered, headed for the closest bar. Zathura walked into the dimly lit bar a little on the paranoid side. He didn't know why, but places like this just gave him the creeps. He started to feel glad he'd brought his Varista, though he was sure he wouldn't need it. He ordered a Bloody Mary and sat down in a corner where he could see the entirety of the bar. As he was drinking the Bloody Mary, he felt a strange sensation, a pull, that made him look towards the end of the bar. Sitting on one of the stools was a cloaked figure sitting next to a very large, military style man. At the same time the cloaked figure glanced at zathura, and as soon as he realized zathura had seen him, he nudged the large man and they both got up and quickly left the bar. Zathura felt he recognized the cloaked one, and thought about following them. On any other day he would have, but due to the exhaustion of the previous day, and the effect of the alcohol, he decided to leave it alone. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he knew them from somewhere. Suddenly, his communicator beeped with mail. Zathura stared at it, halfway thinking about not answering, but figured he didn't want the sound annoying him. To his surprise, it was Iria, she wanted to let him know that the weather on the surface had cleared and they could start their mission if he wanted to. Zathura thought about it, and was feeling surprisingly better about the day. Perhaps if he got this over with he could have an entire day off for once, besides, the principal was sure to start wondering if he didn't check in after two days. He needed information, and hoped this mission would provide some.  
  
Zathura arrived at the Lab shortly after Iria. The Chief was not too happy about this, as could clearly be seen by the expression on her face. However, she got right to the point and debriefed them about their current mission. The chief began, " As you may or may not know, Gal Da Val island is in a state of lockdown. There are three input terminals which control separate locks in the security system. We've been able to locate and activate the locks, thus opening the path to the cliffs, where we believe the center of the research facility to be located. Unfortunately, every team we have sent in have not come back, nor have we been able to contact them after they enter the compound." " So let me get this straight, you want me to take an inexperienced hunter inside the compound and attempt to reach the center of the facility. " Iria seemed a little dissapointed at that last remark. The Chief remained emotionless. " You alone have more experience than most of the hunters we had sent before, and if you believe Iria to be a burden, you may choose to leave her behind. " Iria felt as though she had just been slapped in the face. Her artificial body was beginning to compensate for the emotion that was welling within her, and started to produce tears. Iria quickly disabled that function and straightened her face, making sure neither Zathura or the Chief saw anything. Zathura thought about what the Chief had just said. It's possible that Iria could slow him down,...however, he finally decided that the extra firepower would be welcome, even if he had to worry about keeping her safe. " No, she'll be going with me. " " Very well, then there shouldn't be a problem. " A small smile spread across the Chief's lips as she said this. " The transporter is waiting for you, as soon as you're ready, tell Elly. " " Right. " Zathura turned to Iria. " Do you have everything you need? " Iria nodded yes. Zathura led the way over to the transporter and stepped through, Iria was right behind him.  
  
As their vision cleared, they found themselves on a small cliff surrounded by waist high walls on three sides. There was a gigantic door before them. Zathura found himself wondering whether it was to keep intruders out, or to keep something else in. " Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. " he thought to himself. His communicator beeped at him, it was Elly. "This will be the last time I can contact you before you enter the compound, there seems to be an energy field surrounding it that refracts our communication signals. " " Isn't there any way to compensate for it? " " We're working on it, but so far we haven't figured out how. That will be part of your mission. " " And just exactly what is my mission? " " You are to infiltrate the center of the compound and copy all the data on the central computer. We're looking mostly for log entries by the staff, any information regarding the experiments being conducted there, and of course the reason and source of the energy barrier that blocks communication. " " Alright, any info on what I'll be running into on the way? " " Like the Chief said, the previous teams have not come back, so we have no way of knowing what is in there. Sorry. " " That's okay, alright....if I make it out I'll call. " Zathura disconnected the link. He nodded to Iria to get ready. She hoisted her guilty light and clicked off the safety. Zathura activated his double cannon and activated the door mechanism. The door slowly slid down revealing a large courtyard. Apparently the security system hadn't completely been deactivated, there were still laser trip alarms that would respond to any motion within their proximity. Zathura took a step in, Iria followed close behind. They walked a bit further expecting trouble, but nothing happened. Zathura lowered his double cannon, which proved to be a mistake. The sound of an energy discharge sounded in Zathura's ears as he turned to find the dead body of an ul gibbon that had jumped down from the walls trying to catch him off guard. A split-second later they were surrounded by four or five of them. One of the gibbons spit a fireball at Iria, which she dodged and retaliated with a blast from her guilty light. Carnage ensued. Zathura leaped at the closest gibbon, slicing it across the chest. As it was trying to recover from the blow, Zathura brought his double cannon down on it's head, slicing the gibbon in half. Zathura turned just enough to see another gibbon about to strike him from the back, he quickly pulled his arms back and brought the point of the cannon behind him and impaled the gibbon. At the same time Iria had taken down two as well, and was already aiming at her fourth. The second she pulled the trigger however, the gibbon leaped above the blast and came down on Iria, knocking the guilty light from her hands. Just as Zathura was about to help her, the last gibbon forced it's way between the two hunters. Zathura was relieved to hear the familiar sound of mechguns firing round after round into soft flesh. With confidence that his partner was okay, he lunged forward and struck the gibbon, neatly slicing it's left arm off, and leaving a gash in its side. He then recoiled, and thrust the tip of his cannon into the gibbon's throat, and tearing out half of it in the process. As it fell to the ground, Iria holstered her mechguns and retrieved her guilty light.  
  
Just as the duo thought they had cleared the room, something struck Zathura from behind. Zathura propped himself on his elbow and looked to see what it was. To his surprise, nothing was there. Suddenly the same strange force hit Iria, causing her to stumble backwards. This time Zathura saw a faint ripple in the air. " Thermal Camoflauge. " he said with not a small amount of surprise. He quickly got up, and before the ripple had a chance to disappear he slashed at it with his cannon. A tear opened in what seemed like the air itself, exposing black insides and severed wires. The thermal camoflauge started to flicker, and then died altogether. A sinow zoa stood before them. Iria, relieved to be able to see what she was fighting, quickly brought round' her guilty light and fired two shots into the machine. It sputtered for a moment before collapsing on the ground. Zathura looked at Iria and motioned for her to follow him. They made their way to the end of the courtyard and passed through the door. The next room was devoid of enemies, although it gave them an idea of what was to follow. They saw the sea straight ahead, and the path to the right led to the central control room. It was quite short actually, a couple of rooms stood between them and a thin catwalk. Iria confirmed that the catwalk ended with a teleporter which Zathura hoped led to the control room. As they passed through the rooms, Zathura was surprised to find no enemies. Instead what they found were the bodies of the previous teams and the enemies that had previously resided here. Because of the thick fog that hung over the area, the smell of blood was still thick in the air. Zathura poked a couple of the bodies out of childish curiosity before Iria scolded him, telling him that it was disgusting. They moved on towards the catwalk, and as they crossed it Zathura wondered if the courtyard was the only resistance they would have. After all, it looked as though the previous hunters had done their work for them. Something still didn't sit right with that theory. Something was waiting at the end, he could feel it. As they neared the final teleporter, Iria stopped. " Zathura,...I'm not sure exactly...but I believe whatever is causing the interference with communications is just beyond that teleporter. " Zathura realized she was probably right, and hoped that just once, he would catch a break and complete the mission without a hitch. As they stepped throught the teleporter Zathura realized that his wish was not going to come true.  
  
As their vision cleared, they saw something amazing. Well, amazing if you weren't about to fight it. Just then Iria piped up. " It closely resembles creature known as a gryphon in ancient human mythology. " " Ah, it's alway nice to know I'll be battling against a mythological creature. " The gryphon must have heard their little conversation because it lifted it's head from slumber and looked their way. Zathura could almost see its eyes grow wide with rage at being disturbed. It showed this by getting up and letting loose a deafening roar. It then started moving towards them. As Rati cast its traditional Shifta/Deband combo, Zathura and Iria split. Zathura headed straight for the gryphon, hoping to divert its attention away from Iria. Why he was trying to get a two-story creature's attention was lost on Zathura as he ran beneath the gryphon. At this point Zathura attempted to drive his double cannon straight up into the gryphon's gut. However, when it should have hit it's mark, the gryphon was gone. As he heard shots being fired from Iria's guilty light, he came to realize that the gigantic wings on it's back weren't for decoration. This fact alone would have made the battle tremendously hard, if not impossible, however as luck would have it, the giant photon charges the guilty light fired were enough to blow a hole in one of the gryphon's wings. The creature reared back on it's hind legs and roared in pain. All the while Zathura was sprinting to catch up. He got there just in time for the gryphon to come crashing down, the shockwave created was enough to knock both hunters to the ground. The gryphon saw this as an opportunity and rose it's giant paw to crush Zathura. As the paw came thundering to the ground, a somewhat dazed Zathura found nothing to do but point his double cannon straight into the air. Just as the creature's foot was about two feet away from turning a great hunter into a smear, it stopped. Apparently the gryphon didn't like the fact that it had a double cannon halfway into it's foot. It recoiled, saving Zathura the trouble of extracting his blade. The gryphon howled once more in pain, and with a blue flash, the battle was over. Iria had fired her guilty light directly into the gryphon's mouth. At the angle which the hunters were so placed, the blast penetrated the soft roof of the gryphon's mouth and vaporized it's brain. The now lobotomized gryphon stood for moment, then fell to the ground with a thud, it's head leaking blood and brain fluids. Suddenly, Zathura's communicator beeped, it was Elly. " Zathura, the energy shield just dropped, are you alright? " " Yes we're both fine. What do you mean the barrier just dropped? " " I-I can't explain it, it just dropped all of a sudden. Anyway, have you found the main computer terminal? It should be on the eastern edge of the plateau that you are currently standing on. " " Yeah, I see it. I'll hurry and get the information that you wanted. " " Right, we've locked onto your location and we're sending a transport for you. " " Thanks Elly. " With that Zathura cut off the communicator. Zathura and Iria walked over to the terminal and Zathura brought it online. He then inserted a disk into the terminal and proceded to copy the data. When it was finished he inserted another one, and handed the first to Iria. " I want you to give this to the Chief when we get back alright. " " Umm...sure, but why are you making another copy? " " What copy? " " That disk you just inser...." Zathura cut her off. " Listen, if you want to work with me, you won't tell anyone about this disk okay? As far as you are concerned, that disk you hold in your hand is the only copy. " Not completely understanding, Iria nodded. " Good, let's go then. " Zathura pulled the second disk out of the terminal, and proceded to the telepipe the Lab had provided. Iria waited for a few moments, then followed behind him.  
  
Once back at the lab, Iria gave a full report of everything that had happened. Much to Zathura's releif negelcting to mention the second data copy. Zathura was about to leave the Lab when Iria caught up with him. " Umm...I was wondering if you'd like to get something to eat later. " Zathura looked at her suspiciously. " Only one problem, you don't eat. " " Well, umm...I thought we could just maybe, you know,..talk or something. " " I have something I need to do. " Zathura replied sternly. " Oh, I see. Well, I'll see you later then. " Just as Iria turned to leave Zathura called out to her. " How about I give you a call as soon as I'm finished, it should only take me about thirty minutes, that'll give us both a chance to freshen up. " Iria smiled, and Zathura couldn't help but smile back. Iria trotted off to go home, and as soon as he was sure she was gone, he walked over to a transport terminal, punched in the Principal's coordinates, and stepped through. Zathura came out just in front of Tyrell's office. As he walked in Tyrell almost jumped out of his skin. " Oh, Zathura, it's you. Did you get any information? " " Well, The lab sent me to retrieve this information, so I made a second copy, perhaps you will find this useful. " " I will certainly take a look, erm...does anyone know about this? " Zathura tensed. " No, they beleive there to be only one copy of the data. " " Good, you have done well, however, you should leave so nobody suspects anything. " " Right, I'll be going now. " " One more thing. " The Principal said. " Your mission is not yet over, I hope you understand that, I still want you to find out everthing the lab wants to know, and bring me the data as well. " " Understood. " With that, Zathura left Tyrell's office and stepped back through the teleporter. Once on the other side, he reset the coordinates to that of a local shopping center, so his previous destination could not be traced. He then returned home to get ready for his evening with Iria. He wondered if it was such a good idea, recalling his feelings the day before. Certainly he was not falling in love with an android. " No. " he half chuckled to himself," That's just stupid. There's no way I'd even allow myself to harbor such ideas. " He reassured himself that they were just going to talk. As he walked out the door though, he started to wonder if that was it. If that was the extent of their friendship, and started to wonder just how deep a bond had been created during these past two days. For the first time since he was young, he felt nervous. 


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4  
  
The night was going by without a hitch. Zathura and Iria were having quite a good time, bar hopping for Zathura's enjoyment. Iria seemed content anywhere. They had decided to stop at one of Pioneer 2's numerous artificial parks to rest and talk. Mid-conversation Zathura's communicator beeped. It was Elly, in a concerned tone she told them there had been an explosion at the Lab. A few people had been injured, but there were no casualties. However, the data that had been aquired from Gal Da Val had either been destroyed or was stolen. She asked that the two hunters come to the Lab at once to help clean up and investigate the explosion. Zathura turned off his communicator and looked at Iria. " We should probably go. " She said. " Right. " Zathura and Iria headed for the nearest transporter and input the Lab's coordinates. When they stepped out on the other side, the damage was more serious than Elly had made it sound. Nearly half of the Lab had been destroyed by the blast. Fortunately it was after hours for most of the staff, which is why there were no casualties. The police had been there for quite some time, and after being informed by Elly that these two hunters were going to continue the investigation in the interests of the Lab, the Chief of investigation gave them a memory disk. " We found a non-staff fingerprint on one of the pieces of debris, this disk contains all the information we have regarding this person. Apparently he hasn't been seen on Pioneer 2 for quite some time, and now has resurfaced in order to plant this bomb. We don't know what motive he could have, I mean,...that's not saying the Lab doesn't have its enemies, but...this man has had no prior affiliation with the Lab. " Zathura looked over the information on the disk. " Right, well....have you been able to locate this person? " " Believe me, if we had, he would have been in our custody by now. We do however have a list of places he's been spotted recently. We've already sent several men to each location to stake them out, but we've had no responses from them yet. " At this point Zathura flipped to the page containing a photo of the suspect. His eyes grew wide with surprise. " No, that...there's no way he could be here. " He said under his breath. The police chief noticed this and asked, " Do you know this man? " " Erm..no, I don't, he just reminded me of someone that's all. " " Alright, well good luck with finding this guy. " " Umm....thanks. " Zathura walked off quickly, Iria followed him. " Is something wrong? " She asked. Zathura just kept walking, staring at the picture. Getting slightly irritated, Iria grabbed his shoulder and stopped him in his tracks. " What's the matter? Do you know this guy or not? Tell me. " Zathura looked at her with a solemn expression on his face. He finally replied, " I know him, actually I used to work with him. " " As a hunter you mean? " " No, it was before I even came aboard Pioneer 2, I was doing some....work, on Coral. He was my partner. " This bothered Iria, for some reason she felt that he wasn't telling her the whole truth. " C'mon Zath, what kind of 'work' were you doing? " Zathura sighed. " We should go to my place, it's a long story, and not something I care to talk about in public. " " Okay, let's go, I wanna know the truth. " " I don't think you do. " Zathura mumbled. " What was that? " " Erm..nothing, let's go. " They headed back to Zathura's pad and went inside the door. Zathura motioned at the couch telling Iria she could sit anywhere, while he got the bottle of rum out of the cabinet. He poured himself a shot and downed it. Then poured another, it went in a similiar fashion. Then he sat down and proceede to tell Iria about how he used to work as a mercenary back on Coral.  
  
Back then mercenary work meant good money, but there was a catch. Almost always it meant getting your hands dirty in some sort of drug ring or smuggling operation, and more often than not it meant taking lives. At that point he had never given much thought about it. It was just part of the job description. He saw himself as a soldier following orders. Mercenary's were hired so the client wouldn't have to risk media scandals and legal repercussions, and since mercenary's were always payed in cash, there were never any links leading back to the client. Zathura asked Iria if she was following so far, she nodded and asked him to continue. Zathura then relayed his final mission. The one that made him realize his own mortality and quit mercenary work. His client was a wealthy business man. Apparently he had been receiving threats from a former business partner that he had cut out of one of his deals. His partner was threatening to sabotage his business and kill his family, leaving him bankrupt and alone, if he didn't give him the money he owed. Instead of simply paying the money, he hired a pair of mercenaries for nearly half the price he would have had to pay his partner. One of the pair was of course Zathura, the other was a long time partner of Zathura's, a man named Mishra. Like Zathura, Mishra had entered the line of work for the money. He had formerly been in the military training for a war that had never come. After the threat of war was over, Mishra left the military in search of meaning. No other job satisfied his bloodlust like mercenary work. It was the only way he could put his combat training to the test. Zathura never questioned his motives, it was just something you didn't do. The less you knew about each other, the less chance of you dying because of it. As it went, Zathura and Mishra had infiltrated the compound their client had specified. They had met little resistance and figured this would be a cakewalk. They'd only had to deal with about a dozen guards, which...in their line of work, wasn't much considering they were supposed to be some sort of terrorists. They started slacking off, not even bothering with stealth. If they needed through a locked door, they simply planted a grenade beside it and presto, you have a door. When they finally reached the center of the compound, they ran into the leader of the organization. Definitely not what they expected. Their clients former business partner was there alright, in several pieces. They found a note on a desk, and were more than surprised to see what it read. It was a trap! A clever ploy by one of their past targets whom they believed to have died in an explosion they had caused. Apparently he was still alive and wanted revenge. He had lined the entire warehouse complex with explosives, and had lured them there with a fake job offer. Zathura and Mishra tried to escape, but it was too late. The explosives triggered, and the building went up in flames, Zathura had been thrown against the opposite wall, and Mishra was nowhere to be found. Zathura made a run for the door, and was thrown outside by a second wave of explosions. He had just enough time to see the final wave completely demolish the building before he blacked out from a concussion. He awoke one week later in the hospital. The doctors said it was a miracle that he survived in the first place, and that he should be grateful he came away with only a concussion and a few burn scars. Zathura asked if they had received any other patients from the same incident, they replied that they hadn't, and asked if there was anyone else. Zathura simply shook his head and told them he was just wondering. He was sure that Mishra had died in the initial explosion. After seeing the only person he could call a friend die right in front of him, he resolved to never take another innocent life. Yet he still could not escape the fact that he was a fighter by nature, so he transferred to Pioneer 2 right before it left, hoping that once they got to Ragol, there would be something he could do using his skills as a warrior, but would not include harming people. At least not innocent people.  
  
When Zathura finished, Iria simply looked at him, stunned. This was certainly not the history she had invisioned him having, but it was the truth, and there was nothing that could be done to change it. Zathura thought she was taking it quite well actually. When she finally spoke, all she said was, " So that's why you became a hunter. " " Yes, I needed to find something that challenged my skills as a warrior. " " I see, and this man that the set the bomb in the Lab is this Mishra guy? " " I don't understand it, but yes, it seems that way. " Iria thought for a moment, then said. " Well, what are we going to do about it? " " I had an idea, when I was in the bar yesterday, I saw a guy in a cloak, he was with another man, but I'm pretty sure that was Mishra. " " Well, I guess there's no harm in checking it out. " " Actually, " Zathura interjected, " there is. If this is Mishra, I don't want you coming along. " Iria looked hurt. " Why not? I've proved myself on the Island, haven't I? " Zathura looked her in the eyes and said, " That's different, those are mindless animals, albeit vicous, but they are not capable of complex thought. An animal can't set a complicated trap, an animal can't concoct thought out plans and put them into action. It's not that I don't want your help, I just don't want you hurt. " Iria shifted her gaze away for a moment, then said, " I don't want you hurt either, and that's why I'm going whether you like it or not. Even if you try to leave me behind, I'll follow you, so you might as well take me along. " Zathura just stared. He couldn't believe he'd gotten into an argument he couldn't win. Zathura thought, " Any man would've just said, ' alright, see you later. ' but leave it to a woman to insist she have her way about it. " Zathura sighed, " Alright, I guess there's no point in arguing, if we're going to go we better leave now. " Iria smiled at this remark, knowing she'd gotten her way. She'd prove to Zathura that she wasn't just an inexperienced hunter. She'd show him that he was wrong, that she could help and not get in the way. As she finished this thought, she saw Zathura grab something from his weapons rack. " What's that? " She asked. As he brought it into view she could see that it was a steel sword about four and a half feet in length, fashioned in the shape of the ancient swords that were used throughout human history before guns were invented. Even the old style guns were ancient compared to the new photon technology. There were a few collectors that owned ancient guns that fired lead bullets. Iria chuckled at the thought of it. What she still didn't understand was why Zathura was bringing that relic along with them. She decided not to ask, after all, they needed to focus on the task at hand. As Zathura slipped the sword into its sheath and attached it to the armor on his back, they walked out the door in search of the mysterious ghost from the past. The mercenary known as Mishra.  
  
PT. II  
  
As the pair of hunters headed towards the bar in search of Mishra, Zathura could not help but reflect upon his past. How is it that Mishra could've escaped the explosion? How had he found his way to Pioneer 2? Most importantly, why had he sabotaged the Lab? Zathura's head was swimming with questions, he hoped that once they found Mishra he would have a chance to learn the answers. Shortly afterwards they approached the bar. As they entered Zathura scanned it for the cloaked man he had seen before. He was nowhere to be found. " I thought as much. He probably would'nt show his face in public so soon after the Lab incident. As they headed back outside to search for more leads two men blocked their way. It was Mishra and his military lackey. " You've gotten soft. " He said with a smirk on his face. " Are you the one that set the bomb in the Lab? Are you Mishra? " " I'm surprised you remember my name. Seeing as how you left me for dead those many years ago, I'd thought you didn't care about me. " Mishra removed the hood of his cloak and revealed something horrible. His left eye had been replaced with a mechanical one, and the entire left side of his face had been remodeled by laser surgery, yet still leaving visible scars from intense burn damage. " So I see you didn't escape without injury. " " No, I didn't. But apparently you did. " " Look, I didn't leave you behind! After the initial explosion I couldn't find you anywhere, I assumed you were dead. I simply tried to get out before the same thing happened to me. " " I don't believe you!! " Mishra yelled. " You left me for dead, you didn't care about me, it was all just a job to you! " " That's not true Mishra, I..." " I don't want to hear it Zathura. I followed you to Pioneer 2 to exact revenge. I was simply waiting for the right moment. " " So why did you plant the bomb? " At this Mishra smiled. " You'll find out soon enough, if you live that long. " In a flash of steel Mishra withdrew a long blade from his cloak and brought it down, attempting to take Zathura's head with it. In the same fashion the blade was met with Zathura's own sword. Iria and the large man simply watched as the battle unfolded. Mishra drew back his sword and attempted another strike, this time aimed at Zathura's stomach. Zathura parried and swung the locked swords in a wide arc over their heads, knocking Mishra off-balance. Zathura saw his chance and, ducking slightly spun around and brought his sword arcing towards Mishra's side. Mishra managed to lunge to the side, barely avoiding the blow, but leaving himself exposed on the ground now. As Zathura moved in the large man stepped forward and caught Zathura's arm, effortlessly throwing him over his shoulder through the window of the bar.  
  
Mishra quickly got up and regained his composure, lifting his sword in a fighter's stance. There was a flash of color as Zathura lept out of the broken window towards his opponent. Mishra parried his blow, and attempted to run his sword up the length of Zathura's and cut off his fingers. Zathura quickly turned his sword so that the blades made an X formation. With each others blades only inches from their faces, the two warriors pulled back, and lunged once more at each other, each mimicking the others movements so that not one of them could score a hit. That was when Iria noticed they both were evenly matched, even to the point of knowing each other's moves seemingly before they made them. It was then that Mishra finally succeded. He had swept Zathura off his feet while bringing his sword round' in an upwards spiral. It wasn't that serious, but it had made a large gash in Zathura's thigh, significantly hindering his movements. It was then that Iria took charge. " Stop! " She yelled. Just inches away from thrusting his sword into Zathura's throat, Mishra looked up, only to find he was staring down the barrel of a mechgun. He looked at her other hand where she held the large man at bay with another mechgun. " Get up now! Or I'll make sure you never move again. " Mishra heeded her advice and slowly stood up. At this, Zathura too stood up, clutching his thigh trying to staunch the bleeding. " This is not over Zathura. " Mishra said with a glare at Iria. " I know its not, cause" you're gonna answer some questions. " " Don't worry, you'll get the answers you seek, but not today. Come Yawgmoth. " With that Mishra lept up onto the roof and escaped into the shadows of the artificial night. The large man did the same, although with not quite the same agility. " Dammit, we have to go after them. " Zathura said. " No, you'd never be able to fight him and win with your leg in that condition. " Zathura looked down and realized that Iria was right. Iria holstered her mechguns and retrieved Zathura's sword from the broken glass. Iria handed him his sword. " Thank you. " " What? " " I said thank you, you know,...for saving my life. " Iria just stared, that was the first time Zathura had thanked her for anything since they'd been working together. Before she had a chance to respond Zathura walked off towards his home. Iria thought perhaps it was best to leave him be, since so much had happened that night. However she was having a hard time accepting that, she wanted to be with him, to make sure he was okay, and to be there for him should he need anything. She dismissed these thoughts as having been brought on by the stress of what had happened. She headed off in Zathura's direction, telling herself it was only to tend to his wound and make sure he had not been seriously hurt.  
  
As Iria approached the apartment, she noticed that the door was unlocked. " He must already be inside. " She thought. She opened the door and walked in quietly. She found Zathura sitting at a communication console talking to......The Principal!? What was he doing talking to the Principal of Pioneer 2? She tried to hide herself behind the corner and get an idea as to what they were saying. Then she saw it, Zathura's copy of the data taken from Gal Da Val. He was transferring the data to the Principal! " But that information is supposed to be strictly confidential. Only the Lab is supposed to know about it. " At this point Iria was so confused. All these things happening all at once, it was too much for her. First the explosion, then the man called Mishra, who was apparently a ghost from her new partners past, and now this. What was going on? At this point Zathura ended his conversation and turned off the video screen. " How long have you been standing there? " He asked without even turning around. " Umm...I just got here. " she lied. Zathura let out a small sigh. " I didn't think androids were supposed to lie. " Iria just stood there silent. Zathura turned to face her. " I know you're probably wondering what's going on. " She nodded yes. " Well, it's a little hard to explain, and now that Mishra's turned up again, everything's taken a turn for the worse. " Zathura explained his mission to Iria. Why he was suddenly transferred to the Lab staff, and how the Principal had set the whole thing up so that he could share the Lab's knowledge. Iria was shocked, then her shock turned to anger. " So what you're saying is that you're a spy? " " No, it's not like that. " Zathura sighed as he collected himself. " The Lab has been witholding information from the public. Important information that could be pertinent to the colonization of Ragol. The Principal simply want to review this information for himself and then release the information to the public so that they know the truth. " " But......" Iria stuttered, then fell silent once more. " I'm sorry you had to find out like this. In fact I didn't mean for you to find out at all. " " So why didn't you stop me from listening earlier. " " Because the Principal would've noticed, then he would have cancelled my mission. " " Is it that important to you? " " No, not really. I couldn't care one way or the other, but that's not the point. If I accept a mission, I see it through, no matter what it involves. " " I see. So,...does that mean that...." Iria stopped short. " What? What were you going to say. " " Am I just a part of the mission? " Zathura's eyes widened, he wasn't quite sure how to answer that. After all, he had been fighting with that same question himself, and hadn't quite found the answer yet. " Iria, I..." " Nevermind, forget I said anything. How's your leg? " " Uh...it's fine, I guess. " " I better take a look at it, it's still bleeding. " Zathura assured her that it was fine, and that he would get it looked at the next morning. Iria still hadn't looked directly at him, he was starting to worry, but more than that he was feeling guilty. He wished that he had had an answer for her before, and wondered why it had been such a hard question. They stood in silence for a long time, then Iria announced that they had better get some sleep, as they had a mission the next day. With that, she left Zathura standing alone in the darkness of his apartment. The sound of the door shutting was the last sound he heard that night. 


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5  
  
" What is our next plan of attack? " Mishra thought about this for a moment, then said, " Zathura and his android friend will no doubt be off on a mission for the Lab. We'll be there to make sure it does'nt go so well. " Yawgmoth looked at Mishra. " But would'nt it be easier to just take him out in his apartment? " " We don't want to expose ourselves just yet. Zathura already knows we're after him, we don't need to involve the military police in this, it would only make getting at Zathura that much harder. " " So how do we get down to the island? " A frown spread across Mishra's face. " Fool, you think I hadn't planned for this. You don't give me enough credit Yawgmoth. We'll hack into the transporter system and follow them to the island. " Mishra laughed as the first rays of light penetrated through the darkness of the night. Things had been different for Zathura however. His night had been plagued with horrible dreams, leaving him in a cold sweat when he awoke. He looked at his clock, 500 beats. He didn't have to be at the Lab until 667. He figured he might as well take a shower and get something to eat, he had a feeling it was going to be a long day, especially after the previous night with Iria. He didn't know how he was going to handle her today. These thoughts ran through his mind while he took his shower and made his breakfast. He had all but forgotten the wound on his leg, it just didn't seem to matter right now, and it wasn't hindering his movements at all. As he finished his breakfast he put the dishes in the automatic washer and proceeded to take his armor from the closet and procure his weapons from the corner in which he'd layed them. 649 beats, which roughly gave him about 25 minutes to get to the Lab. More than enough time if he were to take the transporters, but for some reason he felt like walking today. He set out the door and walked through the somewhat rundown streets of his neighborhood. At this time of morning the shops were still closed, even the street dealers hadn't set up their booths yet. It truly was an ungodly time to be awake and heading out for the day. He failed to see how the blue collar class could do it everyday for years without fail. As a hunter he had usually been able to wake up when he felt like it, and if he wanted a day off, it was no matter to simply cancel a mission. The Lab was a different matter entirely. Working for them meant a full time job, and if you didn't show, there would be serious repercussions. Zathura didn't care much about that. If he'd had any say in the matter he'd be late for work everyday, unfortunately that would jeopardize his mission to the Principal. " Oh yeah, that's right. " He thought, still half asleep. He'd completely forgotten that Iria had learned of his true mission. How could he forget such an important thing, he was definitely loosing his edge. He needed to start training more. By the time he'd gotten to Lab however, his resolve to exercise and train had already been forgotten. Iria was already at the Lab when Zathura showed up, which meant that he was late, as Iria had a knack for being punctual, never early, never late.  
  
" Where have you been? You're nearly eleven beats late. Why didn't you just take the transporter? " The chief said with a scowl on her face. Zathura was starting to realize he didn't like her very much at all. " I felt like walking is all. " He said sleepily. Iria didn't even look at him, and he started to wonder what kind of day this was turning out to be. He wasn't very positive about it to say the least. " Well, now that you're finally here, I might as well brief you on your mission. Today you will be going to the Seabed facility located beneath Gal Da Val. " " There's an underwater facility? " Iria asked. " Yes, it was discovered in the data that you brought back on your last mission, fortunately we were able to save it to the Cal's memory banks before the explosion. Due to this fact we also have information on the hazards that you will be facing while there. " Zathura stopped her. " Just what are we doing there anyway? " The Chief glared at him. It was obvious she didn't like him either. Zathura smiled at this thought. " I'm getting to that if you would be so kind as to not interrupt me. " " Sheesh, if looks could kill..." Zathura thought. " Apparently there is another database, separate from the ground level facility. We think there may be more data pertaining to the experiments that were being conducted there. " Iria piped up. " What kind of resistance will we have while down there? " " Good question, I'll let Elly answer that. " Elly's face appeared on the viewscreen behind the Chief. " Well, according to the last log entry of one of the facilities staff, there had been an energy discharge emanating from their subject disposal area. Anyway, it caused a shockwave that shook the facility. This disturbed the "experiments" there, and they broke free of their restraints and holding cells and attacked the staff. According to the entry, the creatures had overrun the facility and had all but decimated the staff. Being a laboratory, they weren't really prepared for such an outbreak, and were not stocked with weapons. You shouldn't have too much trouble, after all, you're experienced at handling things such as this. Anyways, the most common creatures were dubbed Dolmolms. There are also Sinow Zeles, much like the Sinow Zoa that you faced above ground, however, their cloaking device is much more advanced. They also have an ability similiar to Ryuker, since it was in the testing stage they can't go very far, but they can surprise you from behind, so watch out. Oh, one more thing, the facility's security system was also affected, so the security drones cannot distinguish between friend or foe. " Zathura looked at her like she was crazy. " And you're just going to send the two of us, expecting us to handle all of that? " The Chief smiled. " Yes. " Zathura started to believe this was more than just not liking him. The Chief seemed like she had it in for him. If that was the case Zathura wished she would leave Iria out of it. No sense in her getting hurt because someone had a vendetta with Zathura.  
  
As they arrived at the island, Elly called. " Hey, it's me. I'm going to send you a separated telepipe to the seabed facility, hold on. " Suddenly a yellow beam of energy appeared not ten feet from where they stood. " Alright, it's all set up. Also, while you're down there, could you try to activate the transporter system from the main console. It seems to be malfunctioning. " Zathura nodded and terminated the link. The two hunters stepped through and came out in a room surrounded by glass windows. Iria gasped, she had never seen anything so beautiful before. The water was a dark, almost navy blue, and yet was so clear you could see for miles along the ocean floor. Creatures small and large swam past, ignoring the two hunters staring at their underwater world. They stood there for another minute or two entranced by the beauty of it all. Then Zathura snapped out of it. " Don't forget we have a mission to complete. " " Right. " Iria replied. Well, good,...at least she had spoken to him. That was a start he thought. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad day after all. He activated his double cannon and activated the door mechanism. As the door slid open Iria hoisted her guilty light in anticipation, while zathura stood just at the edge peering around the corner. A long hallway beckoned for them to enter. " Whatever you do, don't let your guard down. Sinow Zele could be anywhere. " Zathura thoroughly detested optic camoflauge. For being so smart, scientists did some really stupid things. They cautiosly proceded down the corridor. As they neared the end there were two pressure switches. " How convenient. " Zathura thought. They each stood on one, Zathura at the frontmost switch, and Iria about five feet behind him on the other. The door opened with a hiss. As they entered the next room, they were surprised to see the bodies of three dead dolmolms. Perhaps they had cannabalized them in order to provide food to the strongest and cull the weak. This was not a comforting thought to Zathura, he would much rather fight the weak and sickly ones. As they passed through the room, one of the doors came alive, unlocking without any provocation. Iria jumped. Zathura knew something was wrong, but since it was the only one unlocked at the time, they really had no choice but to travel through it. Before they walked through, Zathura activated the radar on his armband. He didn't like to use it much, as it wasn't very reliable, it only picked up movement. If something was standing still, it was for all intents and purposes, invisible. However, it would help out with the Sinows should they encounter a problem. The two hunters walked through the door into the next room. Not much here, there was a recobox however, but the small security droids it released were easily dealt with by Zathura's varista and Iria's guilty light. As soon as those were finished off, another door mysteriously unlocked. Zathura was starting to get a sinking feeling they were being led somewhere, but by whom, and why? A similiar pattern led them through nearly half of the facility. They never experienced much more trouble than a few security droids. A wounded Dolmolm inhabited one of the rooms, but it barely put up a fight at all. They continued until they reached a large room filled with knee high water. At first glance the room seemed empty, but as Zathura and Iria moved further into it, they realized all to soon that they were wrong. Suddenly the door they had come through locked behind them. " A trap! " Zathura yelled as several Dolmolms rose out of the water. Zathura wasn't about to wait around for them to surround him, he charged off into their midst and started slicing away at their soft fleshy bodies. Tentacles flailed as they were stabbed and cut, while others exploded from the force of Iria's guilty light, splattering fatty tissue about the room. One of the Dolmolms spat a sticky substance at zathura, gluing his feet to the floor. Zathura, being out of range for his double cannon, summoned a foie and sent it flying towards the dolmolm. It's weak flesh easily gave and it's innards were incinerated by the blast. Zathura cut free of the glue and stepped back so Iria would have a clear shot at the last remaining dolmolm. Iria quickly finished it, and thinking it was done, lowered her gun, only to raise it once more as three Sinow Zele dropped from the ceiling. The sinows cloaked themselves and attempted to surround Zathura. He was glad that the camoflauge was still in testing as well, because the water interfered with the mechanisms, creating a shimmer around the robots.  
  
Zathura lunged towards the nearest Sinow and sliced at it unmercifully. When it finally uncloaked it was missing both it's arms below the elbow and had several deep gashes in it's midsection. As it crumpled to the floor Zathura turned towards the other two, which had cleverly placed themselves between Iria and himself, preventing her from shooting for fear she might hit Zath. Zathura realized it was his fight, and blocked the first Sinow's punch with his double cannon, swiftly raising it's twin blade quickly ending the functions of the Sinow. As Zathura turned to impale the third, it was gone. Not just invisible, it was gone. Then he heard Iria scream, " Behind you, it's behind you!! " Zathura turned just in time to see a shimmering fist make contact with his face, knocking him to the floor. At this point the Sinow placed it's foot on Zathura's chest, attempting to drown him under the water. Zathura forced away the ringing in his ears and brought his double cannon around, neatly slicing the Sinow's feet off below the ankles. As water rushed into it's legs it's internal mechanisms shorted out and fried it's electronic brain. Zathura was able to push it off of him and get a short distance away before it's power cell shorted and the Sinow exploded in a shower of sparks and assorted debris. At this point their final opponent showed itself. A vicious dog-like creature (Which was later identified as a Delbiter.) appeared seemingly out of thin air and attempted to trample Zathura. As it prepared for another charge, Iria let loose a blast of energy from her guilty light. This didn't do much more than get it's attention. It then turned to run towards Iria when the Delbiter was suddenly encased in ice. Iria had bought enough time for Zathura to summon a Rabarta spell, effectivly freezing the Delbiter, as well as encasing Zathura's legs in solid ice, but that was a mute point. Iria fired once more, this time shattering the Delbiter into pieces, effectively ending that particular battle. Zathura thrust his double cannon into the ice around his legs and broke it up enough for him to step out. Though the battle was finished, the doors had not yet unlocked, and Zathura didn't think they were going to. They had obviously been lured into a trap, and now that they had survived the battle, whoever brought them there was not going to let them out. Zathura explained this to Iria and she told him she too had felt it was a little out of place. Iria suggested they force their way out, Zathura had no choice but to agree, it seemed the only remaining course of action. Iria informed him that her sensors indicated a large source of power emanating from a nearby corridor, which they agreed was probably the main computer they were looking for. They approached the door that led to their target, and Iria motioned for Zathura to step back. Iria shouldered her guilty light and fired directly at the door. The door bent a little, but didn't give. After two more shots the door finally gave and busted into several pieces. Using strength only an android could possess, Iria cleared the doorway of debris, and the duo headed down the short corridor into a small room. The room not only contained the computer they were searching for, but a disabled transporter pad. Zathura tapped into the computer and activated the trasporter pad. Lights around the bottom of the pad lit up, and were shortly followed by an energy barrier, alerting the hunters that it had been fully activated and was in working order. Zathura then continued to make a copy of the computer data for the Lab, then continued to make his own copy. Iria glared at him when he did this, he tried to avoid her glare.  
  
Once back at the Lab, Zathura handed the Chief the data. She immediately started saving the data to Cal's database. When she was finished she looked up at the hunters. " Very good, you've done well. It will probably take a day or two to analyze the data that is on this disk. So you two can take some well deserved time off. You will find you're pay for your first two missions at the hunters guild. We've already given them confirmation, so they'll have your meseta waiting for you. " Zathura and Iria left the Lab, and while Iria headed for the teleporter to pick up her pay. She noticed Zathura was heading in the direction of his home. " Aren't you going to get your meseta? " " Umm....later, I have something to take care of first. " Iria looked at him, knowing what he was going to do. She stood silent for a moment, then, " Maybe, we could, you know, get together later,...or something. " " umm...yeah, sure. Just come by later. " The two separated ways for a time. As Zathura was uploading the data to the Principal's office computer, Iria walked in. Zathura just finished and switched off his monitor as Iria rounded the corner of the hallway. They talked for a bit, then decided to go out and see Pioneer 2's night life. As they left, a cloaked figure lowered a pair of night-vision goggles and slipped away into the darkness. 


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6  
  
Two days had passed since Zathura and Iria had investigated the seabed facility underneath the Central Control Area. When they returned to the Lab Elly informed them of an even lower level. As Elly was inputting the coordinates for the new teleport to the lower level, the Chief took the opportunity to debrief them on their last mission for the Lab. They were to investigate the lowest level of the seabed facility, and attempt to locate the man named Flowen, a general that had been aboard Pioneer 1 and had been mentioned several times in the data recovered from their missions. She even supplied the two hunters with new, more powerful weapons as a reward for doing well on their previous missions, and to help them along in what might be their last one. Zathura was given a Yamigarasu, a sword which he had previously considered buying at a weapon trading event some months earlier, but didn't have enough meseta. Iria was given a Final Impact, quite a powerful weapon which fired a volley of shells in several directions. After both were satisfied with their mission parameters, they stepped through the teleport to the lower levels. As their vision cleared, they saw signs of violence everywhere. Bodies of scientists and monsters lay dismembered and bloody. Doors which had been ripped out of their tracks. Even the torso of a Sinow Zele which attempted to crawl over towards them. It was quickly put out of it's misery by Zathura's varista. Each new room held new horrors to behold. Zathura almost vomited several times during their journey, but thanks to his rather violent past, was somehow able to keep his composure. Iria, on the other hand, was a different story entirely. She held on to Zathura's arms throughout the entire walk. Zathura was surprised, he finally realized that Iria was definitely like no other android he had ever seen, or even heard about. He knew that some of them had emotion chips which were available to install, but Iria's emotions seemed to be....real, not synthesized, but as if they were her own. These thoughts quickly left Zathura as they entered a room which seemingly appeared to be a dead end. As they ventured into the room, the door they had entered through locked, and the room's air vents suddenly started overflowing with a strange purple gas. Zathura quickly ripped off a piece of cloth from his shirt and dipped it in a pool of water that had accumulated on the floor, then wrapped it around his face to slow the affects of the poison. Iria didn't have to worry about inhaling it, but it was still potent enough to enter the unsealed areas of her armor and start corroding her internal mechanisms.  
  
Zathura opened a com link with elly and explained their situation. "Elly, can you hear me?" "Yes Zathura, go ahead." "Look, we need some quick hacking NOW! All the doors in this room have locked, and it's fillin' up with poison, can you stop it?" "Oh no, umm....give me a sec'." Less than a minute later one of the doors unlocked and the poison was quickly vented out of the room. "Thanks Elly, I owe you one." " heh, no problem Zath." Zathura cut off his communicator and directed his attention to Iria. "Are you okay?" "Yes, I think so." At this, Iria started testing out her servos, making sure they were all in working order. "Good, I can't have you getting hurt, I have all I can handle right now." "Oh.....okay." Iria said quietly. Zathura realized his mistake and attempted to make up for it. "Look, I-I didn't mean it that way,...It's just that the last thing I want is for you to get hurt,...I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you." Iria smiled at him. He knew he'd succeeded and was all too relieved she hadn't taken it personally. As they continued, Elly interrupted on the communicator. " Zathura, we've analyzed the maps of the seabed facility, and we've determined where flowen is. There is a lift a few rooms to your north that leads to the subject disposal area. That's where the scientists threw out all the failed or mutated experiments." " And Flowen's down there?" Well, if we're reading his genetic signature correctly, yes....there are some...abnormalities...but I'm sure it's nothing. Anyway, that's where you need to go." " Alright, we'll be there in a few minutes." The two hunters reached the lift and walked out to the middle. Zathura opened his com link again. "Elly, what now?" "Okay, there should be a lift control console to your left, activate it and take the lift down." Iria walked over and activated the lift. As they descended, a voice came over the facility's com system. "I've been waiting for you Zathura. I see you brought a friend with you as well, rather unfortunate. She will suffer the same fate as you, hahahaha." At this point Elly struggled to keep their link open. "Zathu....can you hear................signal is.........jammed, I can't determine........source........some kind......interference, Zathura!.....Zathura.........." The link suddenly shut off. As they reached the bottom they saw a large room lying just beyond the lift. As they walked out into it the strange voice continued. " You've made it further than any of the other hunters. I couldn't allow them to spoil the surprise. Haha, I have a present for you Zathura, I believe you'll be quite impressed." "Who are you, what do you mean?" "Tsk, tsk...even now you don't recognize me?" At this point they saw two steel panels open high up on the wall, revealing a small observation room. Zathura then came to recognize why the voice had sounded so familiar. Mishra stood looking down on them from the safety of the observation room, where he had no doubt monitered their progress throughout the entire facility. "So now you know....I will finally have my revenge on you for leaving me to die." "I told you before, I didn't leave you to die Mishra. There was nothing I could do." "Enough!!! I've heard your lies before, and I'm tired of them. You came here looking for Flowen correct? You shall have him, haha. Behold,...7 years of study and experimentation, modifications to a previously abandoned project perfected. Zathura, meet the man who shall bring about your doom." As he said this, two large doors shuddered open, and a gigantic creature stepped out from them. "What the...." Zathura and Iria both stood wide eyed at the creature that loomed before them. "This is the man formerly known as Flowen. After giving his body to the facilities here in order to further their study, he was casually tossed aside as a failed experiment. I have perfected his genes, and given him rebirth. Do you hear me....Olga Flow? I created you, and I order you to destroy them!" The creature known as Olga Flow looked at Mishra, then moved forward as if he was really going to obey his commands. Suddenly, with speed so incredible even Iria had trouble following, Olga swung it's mighty sword and decimated the observation room. Glass shattered and steel was broken, then, without warning an incredible explosion occured, completely obliterating any debris that was left of the small room.  
  
Olga then stepped forward to Zathura and Iria. As Olga brought his sword crashing down towards the hunters, Zathura thought he barely heard a voice calling out. "Free me, free me please." This thought was dispelled as he barely managed to dive out of the way of the gigantic blade. As Iria took aim and began to fire volley after volley of photon bullets at Olga, Zathura concetrated his efforts on the only part of Olga he could reach....his ankles. "This is pathetic." thought Zathura, there's no way we can kill this thing alone. Even Falz wasn't this big, and we still barely managed to beat him with four skilled hunters. Olga then brought down his foot, attempting to crush Zathura underneath. Again Zath dodged the blow, and stood up long enough to regain his composure just before Olga struck again. This time he hit, Zathura was thrown across the room and crashed into Iria, sending them both reeling to the ground. As they got up, once again Olga attempted to crush them. As Zathura hauled Iria out of the way, he heard the voice again. "You must call upon your mag, please...free me." "Am I hallucinating? This can't be happening." Zathura felt as though he wasn't actually hearing the voice, but as if it was IN his head. Zathura decided he might as well try. He called out to his Rati, which responded with a series of clicks and beeps. "Rati, I've never asked you to do this before, but I think this qualifies as an emergency." Rati understood, even though Zathura couldn't hear him, he understood what Zathura meant, and immediately started charging energy. Zathura yelled out to Iria. "Iria, get back, get against the wall...you can't be near me right now." "What? What are you going to do?" " JUST DO IT!!" Iria ran towards the outside wall and continued to fire, knowing full well her blasts were doing absolutely nothing. Rati finished charging and let out a small surge of energy, casting a small energy shield around Zathura. Zathura moved in close, dodging Olga's blows. When he got within 20 yards of Olga, he signaled to Rati."NOW!! PHOTON BLAST!!!!" Time seemed to stand still as all the light was removed from the room except for Rati's intense glow of energy. A strange symbol appeared on the floor as Rati began to do something amazing,...it was changing. When the transformation was complete, a winged figure stood between Zathura and Olga Flow. Iria recognized it from her database of Newman history. It was one of the 6 ancients!! She couldn't believe her eyes, Rati and Zathura had actually summoned an ancient. As the Ancient/Rati extended it's arms, bolts of pure energy shot skyward and disappeared. A moment later, streaks of white death rained down from the void. Piercing everything around the hunters. Iria barely managed to stay out of range, while Olga Flow was pierced over and over by the bolts of pure photon energy. When it was finished, Olga's screams broke through the silence and echo'd throughout the room. As Olga crumpled to the ground, mortally wounded by Rati's sacrifice, a red figure rose out of Olga's body. It was slightly distorted, but Zathura instantly recognized it as the image of Heathcliff Flowen, the man they had been sent to find. This time Zathura was sure he heard it. As Flowen rose into the air, he clearly spoke out, "Thank you, you have freed me from that prison of hate and angst. I am eternally grateful to you. Take this as a symbol of my gratitude."  
  
As Flowen rose, his image began to disappear, in it's place a sword fell spinning to the ground. It stuck into the ground in the center of the room, just next to Olga Flow's body. As Iria joined Zathura, she asked, "Is it over, have we finally finished our quest for Flowen?" "Yes, we'll take his sword back as evidence." "I'm so glad it's over, I don't ever want to see so much death again." As Zathura stood there with Iria, Olga's body rapidly degraded, leaving nothing but dust behind. The two hunter's stood there recalling all of the horrible events they had witnessed. Zathura couldn't believe Mishra had gone so far for revenge that he would awaken such a thing as Olga Flow. As he thought about this, Iria took his arm, and...for the first time since they had met, embraced each other. Each was thankful that the other had survived, and each was so happy they had done it, together. Zathura looked into Iria's eyes, and...after a moment's hesitation, kissed her. Flowen's sword was returned, and each hunter collected their rewards. Zathura and Iria decided to retire from the hunter's lifestyle, and with the money they had earned...decided to start a new life together in one of the fledgling colonies that were sprouting up on Ragol. In leiu of a child, Zathura built a HUcast with the help of Iria. They named him BIOhazard, and he was to be the heir of their legacy when their time came to leave this world. However, BIOhazard's is another story, for another time. 


End file.
